Elastic multilayer composites are useful in a wide variety of applications including use as personal care product bodyside facing liner material (or topsheets), outercovers, waist elastic materials, side panel materials, ear materials, containment flaps, leg elastics (gasketing) and hook and loop fastening materials. Various elastic multilayer composites have been formed by bonding an elastic layer to one or more facing layers to form either a stretch bonded laminate, a neck bonded laminate or a neck stretch bonded laminate. Stretch bonded laminate materials offer machine direction stretch and recovery properties. Neck bonded laminates offer cross-machine direction stretch and recovery properties. Neck stretch bonded laminates offer stretch and recovery properties in both the cross-machine and machine directions.
Various types of elastic layers have been utilized in the production of elastic multilayer composites, such as elastic films, strands, foams, fibers or fibrous webs, and so forth. Despite all of these types of elastic layers, there remains a need for improved elastic multilayer composites that have good elastic properties (for example, reduced hysteresis and/or permanent set). Other desirable properties include good breathability, good barrier properties, and an acceptable price point. There is also a need for efficient methods of manufacturing such materials which do not hamper the elastic performance of the materials produced. It is to such desires that the current invention is directed.